who knew a 20-minute phone call could set the trajectory for the next 25 years of your life? Royal Oak native Michelle McFarland knew corporate America wasn’t for her, and after getting married in 1998 and watching the rest of her friends and co-workers also get married, she thought “maybe there’s something to this wedding thing.”
While working at Thyssen Steel’s U.S. headquarters at the Renaissance Center as a cash manager, she flipped through a bridal magazine she grabbed during her lunch break at a convenience store downstairs, stumbling upon an advertisement for a headpiece company. She called the number and spoke to a kind woman for about 20 minutes, who “taught me so much in that short phone call that I thought, ‘Oh my gosh. I think I can do this. I think I can open my own bridal accessory store,’” McFarland says.
And in December 1999, she did.
McFarland opened The Wedding Shoppe in Royal Oak as a bridal accessories store that offered everything from veils to shoes to jewelry and invitations. Her sister, Danielle Simone, quit her job to help her run the store.
In 2008, since they were already doing bridal alterations, she thought “Why don’t we sell dresses?” She says that’s when her business “really took off.”
Since then, The Wedding Shoppe moved to its current location in Berkley, has grown to a team of 30, about 20 of which are stylists, and sells about 2,000 dresses a year. She says her success comes from taking the time to understand the individual needs of each bride that walks through the door.
“What can be challenging is realizing that not everybody loves the same thing, and that’s why getting to know [the bride] is so important,” McFarland says. “Having those conversations and listening and getting to know someone as a person makes a big difference.”
Those conversations led to The Wedding Shoppe expanding their availability in sizes and becoming metro Detroit’s largest selection of wedding gowns with sizes 0 to 38.
The dresses they offer, which include couture, off-the-rack, and plus-size collections, are hand-selected by McFarland and her team at bridal markets in different cities, like New York and Chicago, and are sold at various price points, some as low as $300 and others at $13,000.
For 2025, The Wedding Shoppe has been stocking up on the latest trends, including elegant crepe dresses, large ball gowns, dresses with basque waists, and touches of black, like black gloves and bows. Some designers they consistently reach for include Rivini and Colby John.
McFarland thanks her customers who have helped grow The Wedding Shoppe’s popularity through word-of-mouth recommendations, and says they’ve had brides visit from all over to try on their dresses, including Hawaii.
Since starting her business 25 years ago, McFarland has had three children, whom occasionally help at the store, and she can’t “imagine what my life would be like if I hadn’t been brave enough to take the leap and start the business.”
